A reader gives his verdict on Sony’s new three tier PS Plus service and why he’s now getting an Xbox Series X instead of a PlayStation 5.
So, Sony has finally announced their version of Game Pass and… it’s pretty much exactly what was rumoured and leaked beforehand. I’ve seen a lot of people suggest that Sony helped to leak it themselves, so that people wouldn’t be disappointed but, guess what? I’m disappointed.
I wouldn’t say I was surprised exactly, but I was hoping for some kind of special feature or addition that would make it seem better than Game Pass, but there wasn’t anything. It wasn’t even cheaper, but slightly more expensive for what sounds like pretty much the same amount of games.
You could maybe justify the price of PS Plus Extra, which is just the Game Pass bit, but PS Plus Platinum is far too expensive just to get what is currently PS Now pasted onto your subscription. I’ve already seen Sony argue that it’s just an additional option for hardcore fans but what that ignores is that now the one and only way to play anything but PlayStation 4 and 5 games is by paying £100 for a subscription. And even then the PlayStation 3 games aren’t even downloads.
A lot of the arguments for why PS Plus Extra isn’t as good as Game Pass revolves around Sony not being as rich as Microsoft, so they need the money they make from selling the major exclusives and can’t afford to miss out on that.
As much as I can sympathise with giant (as opposed to mega giant) global corporation, I get it but that ignores that fact that Microsoft seem to be making bank with Game Pass and that once enough people sign on it will be profitable. So while Sony might lose some money in the short term they still stand to gain more if they do make first party games available day one.
There’s also the fact that if they end up waiting until Game Pass gets bigger and bigger, and then give in and do it anyway, they’ll have missed their big opportunity to cut off Xbox at the pass (ha!) and will instead be forever fighting an uphill battle against someone with much bigger cash reserves. This was the time to be bold, but they’ve flubbed it.
At the very least they could’ve set a rule that says ‘all first party games will be on PS Plus Extra after two years’ but they didn’t do that. Probably because they didn’t want to put people off from buying them day one, but c’mon. If that, or something similar to it, ends up being the rule of thumb people are going to assume it anyway, and make their buying decisions accordingly.
You could say that PlayStation were in a no-win situation here, and I have got some sympathy with that, but to me they’ve just done the absolute minimum. The service is the same as Game Pass, except for its best feature, and it’s more expensive. Not very appealing when you put it like that, is it?
Especially not when ordinary PS Plus (PS Plus Essential now, I guess) is getting worse and worse every month, and Microsoft’s first party line-up gets better, or at least closer, by the same measure.
If you haven’t guessed, I don’t own either next gen console yet but I was waiting to see what Sony did as a response to Game Pass, and while there are still details to come it’s clear none of them are going to change the fundamental truth that Xbox offers more for less.
I’d still rather play PlayStation exclusives if all things were equal but they’re not, and on balance it seems to me that Xbox is hungrier for success, and pleasing people, and better value for money. So I’m going for them instead.
By reader Yonda
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
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